Pictures of You
by Ryoko Metallium
Summary: ONE SHOT; Eps. 89. As Kagome recovers from her cold, Inu-yasha comes across her photo album


Title: Pictures of You

Author: Ryoko Metallium

**Author's Notes: Guess who's back? Fear not fellow readers! I am still alive, kicking and still writing. First of all, please forgive me for my incredibly long absence. Several factors have prevented me from writing; mainly due to a broken computer and college classes getting in the way. But now my semester is over with and my computer is fixed (somewhat)! Secondly, for those of you wondering whether or not I'm continuing with my other series, rest assured that I have not forgotten them and I am resuming work right now. I realize everyone has been waiting patiently for an update and for that, I thank every single one of you for staying with me after such a long absence. UPDATES ARE COMING!! The main motivator that really gets me geared up in my writing is all the wonderful comments and reviews I receive. Thank you so much!! Like I said, hang in there everyone because the updates that you are all waiting for are on their way. In the mean time, here is a small short story I cooked up one day after watching one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takashi, Shogakun Inc., and Sunrise. I'm only borrowing them. I promise I'll give them back.**

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Inu-yasha listened intently to Kagome's hushed breathing as she slept. He sat at the edge of her bed, standing guard with his sword by his side while she dreamed.

The cold medicine he had made for her worked quickly, just as the hanyou had hoped it would. The sooner Kagome was rid of her cold, the faster she could return with him through the well and get back to what really mattered; finding jewel shards and defeating Naraku. For the life of him, Inu-yasha was never going to understand why Kagome put such stock into her studies. As far as he saw it, none of these 'test' things could even come close as being important as to what was going on in the Feudal era. At one point, the hanyou had tried reading her text books just to see what the big deal was about. He ended up with a headache. Still after watching her earlier, pushing herself even though she was sick, Inu-yasha figured to leave the subject alone.

Judging from the way Kagome was sleeping, so soundly and peacefully, the medicine was working. Inu-yasha could not longer hear the congestion in her chest with each breath she took. She had stopped coughing thankfully. Even if he didn't follow his mother's recipe accordingly and added his own unique flare, it appeared to have worked just the same.

Inu-yasha's thoughts wander off as he began to recall his days with his mother, at her side watching closely as she taught him how to make her 'special tea' as she used to call it. He may have been just a child then, but the hanyou could remember just about every single detail. The selective groups of dried herbs she used to keep, the carefully stored samples of chicken, boar and fish liver as well as her own distinctive techniques she used to make her remedies more effective. Inu-yasha found himself smiling, remembering his first reaction to the medicines' smell and taste. He clearly remembered saying something along the lines of, "It smells like piss." Even so, bitter taste and putrid smell aside, Izayoi's cure for colds never failed. It was little things such as that made Inu-yasha even more grateful for his loving human mother.

Kagome stirred suddenly, moaning for some unknown reason that instantly brought the hanyou out from his daydream. Inu-yasha reacted quickly by placing his hand upon her, stroking her softly just as he had earlier. Kagome's breathing became slower and more relaxed as she started to settle back into a comfortable sleep state. Inu-yasha stroked her for a few more minutes until he was certain that she was at ease, somehow assuring her that he was with her. Protecting her and watching over her the same way his mother did for him.

As he turned away from Kagome, his keen eye spotted a book lying no more than a few inches from him. Curious Inu-yasha reached for it and opened its pages. In it, he discovered strange small images placed neatly on each page. These were probably what Kagome called 'photographs'. The hanyou turned each page very slowly, looking at each photograph with great interest. Some of the images were of Kagome – many at different ages. Inu-yasha looked at the pictures of Kagome when she was a child, watching her grow before his eyes. It was rather eerie to see Kagome so young, playing with her brother in front of the sacred tree without a care in the world. His eyes fell upon one picture of a very young Kagome standing at the trees' base, reaching up to touch the notch of where he was once pinned fifty years ago.

'_My tree…'_ he thought absently.

He found other pictures of her with friends as well. They were the same friends who had stop by that day to wish Kagome well, including the boy who he show tutoring her about something called 'fractions' and 'equations'. What was his name again? Hobo? Homo? With each turn of the page, it was then that Inu-yasha realized that there was a whole other side of Kagome's life that he did not know about. Each picture told a story about Kagome that the hanyou knew nothing about. Another life that was so different from his. The more he thought about it, Inu-yasha began to grasp that there was still so much about Kagome that he did not understand. In this era, she had family and friends that she could always return to.

And yet for some reason, Kagome had chosen to follow him in battles where her life could end in an instant.

As Kagome stirred under her covers, rolling over to a more comfortable position, Inu-yasha reached the end of the album. In the very back, he came across one single photograph of Kagome alone. It was a perfect portrait of her. She was in her school uniform, smiling and waving at the camera as she posed in front of the shrine house. For some reason, Inu-yasha found himself smiling as well. She may have looked like a complete goof, but this was the side of Kagome he loved to be around.

Carefree

Happy

Beautiful

Peeling back the plastic, Inu-yasha plucked the photo out of the album and quickly tucked it into his robes. He then closed the book and resumed his duty of watching over Kagome as she slept.

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**Author's Notes: The idea for this story came from two things. First came from the episode itself. I had always wondered what Inu-yasha may have been thinking while looking through Kagome's photo album. He seemed to have had a big attitude change from wanting Kagome to get better just to return the Feudal Era, and then going out of his way to get her to school on time. That to me was rather surprising. Another thing that inspired was a doodle that I had done awhile back. It was just a simple drawing of Inu-yasha's hand holding a picture of Kagome. It didn't mean anything at the time, but looking back on it now, I realize that it implies a whole different meaning to their relationship. **


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